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Ladies Night in Bogota Colombia© Moira Richards When he first suggested the idea of banning the city's men from the streets for a night, there was much discussion about it. Not least on its legality - and of course on the extent that it might violate the constitutional rights of the men. In the end the male curfew was not compulsory, but the men were asked to stay home voluntarily. Many, although of course not all, complied with Mockus' request, and they minded the kids whilst their womenfolk went out. News reports quote the following crime statistics for Bogota:
The mayor had conceived the idea of the curfew as a way to highlight such statistics, to draw attention to men's role in the perpetuation of domestic and community violence, and to prove that crime would be less on a night of male curfew. He hoped that the evening would be a time for serious reflection on the gendered nature of crime in the city. And the crime rate was indeed significantly lower in Bogota on Friday night, the 9th of March, and the mayor declared the experiment a success. A few news reports on the 'net that covered the story. In them, mayor Antanas Mockus was described variously as 'eccentric', 'goofy', 'clowning idiot', 'crazy philosopher', and the story was also featured on a 'legal humour' website. Men of Bogota were quoted as saying; 'We own the street' 'What about a female curfew?' 'The city can only take one night of this' 'We have high unemployment, we have social unrest' ' We have a lot more important problems to worry about here' The mayor declared the night dedicated to educating 'men, who have much to learn about peaceful attitudes' a success...? Go To Page: 1
The copyright of the article Ladies Night in Bogota Colombia in Abuse Against Women is owned by Teresa Brouwer. Permission to republish Ladies Night in Bogota Colombia in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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